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Bluestem
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Spring 2017
Tallgrass Ontario
Volume 16, No. 1
Tallgrass Ontario will identify
and facilitate the conservation
of tallgrass communities by
coordinating programs and
services to provide assistance
to individuals, groups and
agencies.
Tallgrass Ontario
thanks:
Environment Canada SAR
Habitat Fund, OMNRF SAR
Fund, Ontario Trillium
Foundation, The W. Garfield
Weston Foundation, Toronto
Park People, CanadaHelps.org
donors and TgO members.
Board of Directors:
Dan Stuart
Jack Chapman
Tom Purdy
Pat Deacon
Dan Lebedyk
Dan Barcza
Izabela Kalkowski
Elizabeth Reimer
Karen Cedar
Season Snyder
Steve Rankin
Spring bloomer - Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Go to www.tallgrassontario.org to download the Bluestem Banner in colour.
space to emphasize a key point. To place this text box anywhere on the page,
just drag it.]
Inside the Bluestem Banner
The Therapeutic Qualities of Nature ….. ………………………………………..Page 2
More about Wild lupine………………………………………………………………..Page 6
Invitation to 2017 Annual General Meeting ………………………………….Page 7
Become a TgO Member…………………….…………………………………………..Page 7
Tallgrass Ontario, 1095 Wonderland Rd. S, Box 21034 RPO Wonderland S, London, Ontario N6K 0C7
Phone: 519 674 9980
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://www.tallgrassontario.org/
Charitable Registration # 88787 7819 RR0001
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The Therapeutic Qualities of Nature – Elizabeth Reimer
Many Bluestem Banner readers would probably agree that spending time outdoors surrounded by
nature promotes good health. The idea that experiencing nature helps people feel better is not new, –
Hippocrates is alleged to have said that nature itself is the best physician. An increasing number of scientific
studies are lending weight to that intuitive knowledge and quantifying its effects. Many health benefits are
easy to guess at – vitamin D from sunshine and exercise which is more likely as we increase time spent
outdoors. Health benefits turning up in the scientific literature are surprising.
It is hardly news that exercise is beneficial to our health. What may be surprising is that the same level
and intensity of exercise has greater health benefits when conducted while viewing scenes from nature.
Study participants showed a decrease in physiological stress after going for a walk, but the magnitude of
this change was greater for people who walked through a nature reserve compared to those who walked in
an urban setting (Hartig et al., 2003).
If spending time in nature does not manage to keep illness at bay there is still good news. Hospital
patients with a view of nature out their window recovered faster and used fewer pain medications after
gallbladder surgery than those whose window looked at a brick wall (Ulrich 1984).
Humans may have an innate preference for savannah habitats, like those at Pinery Provincial Park.
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Measuring the benefits of nature on mental and emotional wellbeing has previously relied on
subjective assessments, usually self-reports. Researchers often questioned whether the studies were
biased. Advances in technology allowed a group of researchers in Britain to attach mobile brain-wave
recorders to study subjects while they took a walk in green space, as well as a shopping district and
commercial district (Aspinall et al., 2015). The results showed that people were calmer when walking
through green space than when walking through either shopping or commercial districts. Researchers
suggest that everyday demands on our brain’s processing centre result in a mental fatigue and that living
near nature alleviates fatigue (Kuo and Sullivan 2001).
Research shows that going for a walk in a green setting is a great way to relieve stress.
Green spaces also help foster a sense of belonging to a community. Research conducted in inner city
neighbourhoods found that the presence of green space was a strong predictor for social ties within a
community. Additionally, residents of the greener neighbourhoods were more likely to consider their
neighbourhood a safe place to live. The more a person made use of these spaces, the more likely they
reported strong ties to their neighbourhood (Kuo et al., 1998). In one study, conservation volunteers who
worked on a prairie restoration project reported a high level of personal satisfaction as a result of their
participation in the project (Miles et al., 1998). This type of work gives people a sense of being part of
something meaningful. In that sense we could say we restore prairies, and in turn they restore us.
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Maybe our physiology has not yet adapted to modern built environments. Whatever the reason, the
effect is so powerful that research suggests even looking at pictures of natural environments provides
benefits. People who viewed photos of nature performed better on a test of cognitive ability than people
who were shown pictures of urban areas demonstrating that we think more clearly after viewing scenes of
nature (Berman et al., 2008). This effect has also been found in children with Attention Deficit Disorder who
showed a decrease in the severity of their symptoms after playing in a green space and that benefits were
directly linked to the level of “greenness” of the play space (Faber Taylor et al., 2001). Research also shows
that this effect is fast-acting – looking at a photo of a green scene for only 40 seconds allowed test subjects
to perform better on a task designed to test attention (Lee et al., 2015).
Savannah at Tarangire National Park in Tanzania, East Africa
Researchers suggest that our evolutionary history provides an explanation for the beneficial effects of
nature. Humans evolved on the African savannah – a park-like setting of grass dotted with trees. For so
much of human history this was home, and today we still feel a powerful connection to the landscapes that
shaped us into modern Homo sapiens. The premise is that we associate green landscapes with the ability to
sustain human life, and therefore natural selection leads us to seek out areas that will promote survival
(Hartig et al., 2010).
One thing is certain; with spring in the air many of us are looking forward to shaking off winter’s
doldrums and heading outside to nurture our bodies, minds and spirits. If you are looking for prairie sites
where you can get out and enjoy all the benefits of being immersed in nature, head over to Tallgrass
Ontario’s website http://www.tallgrassontario.org/grassland_places.html . Happy trails!
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Aspinall, P, P. Mavros, R. Coyne, J. Roe. 2015. The urban brain: analysing outdoor physical activity with
mobile EEG. Br J Sports Med 49:272-276.
Berman, M. G., Jonides, J., & Kaplan, S. (2008). The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature.
Psychological science, 19(12), 1207-1212.
Faber Taylor, A., Kuo, F.E., & Sullivan, W.C. (2001).Coping with ADD: The surprising connection to green
play settings. Environment & Behavior, 33(1), 54-77.
Hartig T., A. E. van den Berg, C. M. Hagerhall, M. Tomalak, N. Bauer, R. Hansmann, A. Ojala, E. Syngollitou,
G. Carrus, A. van Herzele, S. Bell, M.T. Camilleri Podesta, and G. Waaseth. 2010 Health Benefits of Nature
Experience: Psychological, Social and Cultural Processes. Chapter 5 in: Nilsson, K., Sangster, M., Gallis, C.,
Hartig, T., De Vries, S., Seeland, K. and Schipperijn, J. (2010). Forest, trees and human health. Dordrecht:
Springer Science Business and Media.
Hartig, T., Evans, G. W., Jamner, L. D., Davis, D. S., & Gärling, T. (2003). Tracking restoration in natural and
urban field settings. Journal of environmental psychology, 23(2), 109-123.
Kuo, F., W. Sullivan. 2001. Aggression and violence in the inner city: Effects of environment via mental
fatigue. Environment & Behavior, Special Issue 33(4), 543-571.
Kuo, F.E., Sullivan, W.C., Coley, R.L., & Brunson, L. (1998). Fertile ground for community: Inner-city
neighborhood common spaces. American Journal of Community Psychology, 26(6), 823-851.
Lee, K.E., K.J.H. Williams, L.D. Sargent, N.S.G. Williams, K.A. Johnson. 2015. 40-second green roof views
sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology
42: 182-189
Miles, I., Sullivan, W.C. & Kuo, F.E. (1998) Ecological restoration volunteers: the benefits of participation.
Urban Ecosystems 2: 27.
Elizabeth Reimer is currently a Resource Technician at the (Ontario) Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. In the
past, she has worn many hats, including field assistant at the Manitoba Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, Project Biologist at
the Manitoba Conservation Data Centre, Mycology Technician at the ROM, and Species at Risk Data Technician with
Parks Canada. Elizabeth is a director of Tallgrass Ontario.
The next issue of the Blue Stem Banner will be published in Summer2017. The current and all previous issues can be found on our
website http://www.tallgrassontario.org/bluestem_banner.html
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Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) is a perennial legume native to Eastern North America. In the past it was
associated with savannah and barren habitats from Florida to Newfoundland. Because of man’s impact on
the landscape and habitat fragmentation this plant has declined by more than 90% across its range since
1900. Viable lupine habitat is often difficult to
maintain because it flourishes only after fires and
other forms of disturbance.
Lupine is used as a food plant by caterpillars of
several species of butterflies. Because of the
decline of this plant, three butterfly species have
become locally extinct in Ontario; the Karner
Blue was last seen in 1991, the Frosted Elfin in
1988 and the Eastern Persius Duskywing in 1987.
Fire suppression has been cited as a primary
factor in the decline of these butterflies.
Photo on page 1 and on this page taken at Kenesserie
Tallgrass Praire, Chatham-Kent, Steve Rankin
Karner Blue, J&K Hollingsworth, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
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Invitation to Annual General Meeting
page 7
Tallgrass Ontario invites all members to attend our
Annual General Meeting
Sunday, June 11, 2017
Royal Botanical Gardens
680 Plains Road West, Burlington, On L7T 4H4
Welcome & Registration: 9:30 am
AGM: 10:00 am – 1:00 pm
Please email [email protected] to register.
Agenda Includes:
 Business Meeting/Board Member Elections & President’s Remarks
 Presentation of TgO accomplishments in 2016 and 2017
 Catered Lunch and Refreshments provided
 Tour of Royal Botanical Gardens and a hike at a nearby trail to follow the AGM (1:00 pm to 3:00 pm)
Become a Member
Tallgrass Ontario’s Goals
1. Ensure organizational capacity
2. Facilitate the creation and restoration of tall grass communities;
3. Increase public awareness and stewardship of tall grass communities;
4. Identify and secure existing potential tall grass communities across the province;
5. Promote research and knowledge transfer of tall grass communities
Membership
Tallgrass Ontario is always actively seeking individuals who would like to learn the roles of a TgO Board
member and work to achieve a position on the TgO board.
The first step in the TgO volunteer path is to become a member. A General Membership is $20 per calendar
year, a Student Membership is $10.00 annually and a Lifetime Membership is $100.00. All memberships
entitle the member to voting rights in the organization.
Tallgrass Ontario is a Registered Canadian Charity. You can donate to Tallgrass Ontario by visiting
https://www.canadahelps.org/dn/13376
You can become a member by visiting our website at: http://www.tallgrassontario.org/memberships.html